When Lois Deloatch recorded what became Hymn to Freedom in late 2006, she intended it as a tribute to pianist Oscar Peterson, a living legend.

But one of the perils of being an independent artist is that albums done right require patience. "I'm a totally independent artist," the North Carolina-based Deloatch said earlier this week, in advance of her November 16 performance and workshop at the Redstone Room. "When you're literally doing every piece of it yourself, it takes a little bit of time."

Carrie Rodriguez has always gravitated toward the spotlight, even if it's taken a while to get there.

"My mother said that when I was in Montessori school, they would put on these plays," she recalled in a phone interview last week. "And I would always have the part of the tree or the plant or something. And my mom asked the teacher, 'Why do you keep giving Carrie the role of the tree?' And the Montessori-school teacher says, 'Because no matter what I do, Carrie's going to end up on the front of the stage, singing and dancing, so I can afford to give her the tree role. I need to give the shy kids the main roles.'"

Everything's gone covers crazy this week, with new spins on soul classics, numerical delights, and the return of Marianne Faithfull.

After years on hold, a punk-rock superstar "sing-along" side project featuring members of Bad Religion, NOFX, Social Distortion, and the Adolescents has finally been released, bringing the old-school party to basements and family rooms across suburbia. Calling themselves simply Punk Rock Karaoke, the original New Year's Eve spectacular was conceived in 1996 by Bad Religion/Circle Jerks guitarist Greg Hetson and went on to play a variety of weddings, bar mitzvahs, and the Warped fest before putting the madness to tape in 2001.